Betty Jean Hansen

BETTY JEAN HANSEN was the second of the twin girls  born on April 1,1951 to  Nels Melvin  and Helen (Utke) Johnson in Yankton, South Dakota.  Betty was raised and grew up on the family farm in rural Irene, SD. Betty graduated from Irene High School in 1969;  after high school she attended  Nettleton College in Sioux Falls, SD.    After college she started working in the nursing field at Yankton Hospital then continuing her career in Viborg, SD.   Betty spent more than fifty years in the nursing field ending her career after forty years working at the Cherokee Villa until retirement in 2016.

Prior to her passing, on Dec. 9, 2022,  Betty and her husband Dennis (Buzz) Hansen (Viborg, SD) celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary.  Betty spent the last ten months of her life at Acura Healthcare in Aurelia, Iowa along with receiving care from Cherokee County Hospice the last few months until her death on Jan.9, 2023.

Over the years, Betty and her husband enjoyed cruising around on their Honda Goldwing with the other friends and members of the Western Iowa Cycle Riders.   When not traveling, you could find her enjoying the simple things, drinking her morning coffee, and reading the paper, doing the crosswords, jig-saw puzzles and watching her favorite TV shows (such as The Andy Griffith Show and Days of Our Lives) all while feeding her beloved four-legged friend Chloe the Cat and many others.

Betty is survived by her husband Dennis (Buzz) Hansen of Cherokee, Iowa, daughters, Michelle (Brian) Parrott (Cherokee, IA) , Angie White (Morrisville, NC) ,grandchildren Kaitlyn Parrott (Tempe, AZ) and Kelsay Parrott (Lebanon, PA) , twin sister Bonny (Dean) Nielsen (Sioux Falls, SD),  Sharon (Robert) Rempp (Scottsdale, AZ) sister-in-laws Karen Schooley and special friend Hank (Casper, WY),  Mary Rauk (Beaver Creek, MN) and Barb Hansen (Yankton, SD) and several nieces, nephews, cousins and her favorite four legged friend Chloe the Cat.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, husband’s parents, Lester and Dorothy Hansen (Viborg, SD), sister Connie Jensen and her husband Jerry (Irene, SD), sisters-in-law Debra Magnuson and husband Arvid (Parker, SD), brothers-in-law Dale (Ole) Hansen (Yankton, SD), David Schooley (Casper, WY),  Richard Rauk (Beaver Creek, MN). 

Memorials are preferred to Cherokee Regional Medical Center Foundation (Hospice Care)

https://www.cherokeermc.org/product/donate/